Some of the best entries so far in the 2016 Insight Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition. There are two weeks left to enter, and the winners will be announced in September. Here: Aurora over Laksvatn Fjord, Laksvatn, Norway. The aurora borealis dances in the skies over the town of Laksvatn, with the Milky Way to the left. The image is a single shot with no compositing, only post-processing to bring out the aurora, and some colour corrections. The photographer Matt Walford said: “I love the way the northern lights look like they are just wistfully dancing over the fjord, framed by the mountains on either side”. (Photo by Matt Walford/National Maritime Museum)

Stones collected and categorised by shape (fish) are seen at the home workshop of Luigi Lineri in Zevio, near Verona, Italy, June 10, 2016. Luigi Lineri's home workshop is covered in stones – tens of thousands of them. They resemble animal heads, human faces and other forms, and the artist and poet believes may have been shaped by prehistoric humans. (Photo by Alessandro Bianchi/Reuters)

A tree covered with hoarfrost casts a shadow on a snowy field, shot with a drone in Sieversdorf-Hohenofen, Germany on January 31, 2021. (Photo by Patrick Pleul/dpa)

Single Sports Second Prize. Garrett Gerloff (31) and Sandro Cortese (11) crash in the World Superbike warm-up during the World Championship on Phillip Island, Australia. (Photo by Scott Barbour/AAP Photo/Istanbul Photo Awards 2021)

A bird vendor holds a cage with a bird on a sideroad after a heavy snowfall in Kabul on January 5, 2022. (Photo by Mohd Rasfan/AFP Photo)

The sun rises behind the landmark Anchor on the quay in Appledore, North Devon, United Kingdom on June 7, 2022. The anchor has been decorated with hundreds of colourful crocheted flowers by the residents of the North Devon coastal village. (Photo by Terry Mathews/Alamy Live News)

A giraffe was captured creating a dust cloud while running in front of a perfect African sunset in Amboseli National Park, Kenya in the first decade of November 2022. (Photo by Edgard Berben/Media Drum Images)

Sea lion “Jay” paints a Chinese character reading “the Serpent” at the Hakkeijima Sea Paradise aquarium in Yokohama, suburban Tokyo on January 3, 2013. The event, marking the forthcoming Chinese lunar calender year of the snake was held as part of a New Year's attraction. (Photo by Kazuhiro Nogi/AFP Photo)